Greetings and Affection

Dogs are always excited to see you, from the moment you step through the door your dog goes into a frenzy, barking, leaping and pawing at you. Some people don’t like the thought of all that over-excitement and it can be embarrassing when you have a friend over and your dog won’t stop jumping all over them. However, other people love how affectionate dogs are. After a long hard day at work, a dog’s love and affection can really get the endorphins going.

Cats
Compared to dogs, cats play hard to get. Don’t expect your cat to rush to the door when you get home unless they’re hungry. Then they’ll proceed to follow you around meowing until you feed them. Later on, when you’ve settled onto the couch to watch some Netflix, that’s usually when your cat decides to come curl up on your lap. It’s his or her way of showing affection.

Cats also tend to be more shy around new people compared to dogs. Maybe your cat will come say hi, maybe not, it really depends on what mood they’re in.

Fitness

Dogs
When it comes to fitness, the amount of exercise a dog needs really depends on the kind of dog you have. However, no matter what size they are, they’ll need to be exercised daily. Dogs should spend between 30 minutes to two hours exercising everyday. No matter the weather, no matter how tired you’re feeling, you have to take your dog for a walk. While this isn’t always ideal, a pet dog can help you stay fit and active.

Cats
It’s suggested that cats need about 10-15 minutes of exercise a few times a day. For this reason, cats are lower maintenance than dogs as you can play with your cat from the comfort of your couch with a piece of string.

Also, cats will never nag you to take them for walks. The only downside is that you have to motivate yourself to get out there and exercise since there’s no dog staring at you with their big puppy eyes making you feel guilty for not walking them.

Noise

Dogs
Most dogs will always vocalise their moods whether they’re upset, happy, excited or just talkative, they show it all. Surely everyone’s experienced staying awake at night to the neighbour’s dog barking at anything and everything…

But while it is annoying to have a dog that barks at everything, not all dogs behave this way. The upside is that a barking dog can help deter potential intruders.

Cats

Cats are a lot quieter than dogs. Feline noises consist mostly of meows and occasional hisses which are barely audible from another room. Your neighbours will never call to inform you that your cat’s hissing is keeping him or her awake. However, while not as loud, that “feed me” meow can be just as annoying.

Abilities and Training

DogsDogs can be trained quickly, some in a matter of minutes, to obey basic commands like ‘come’ and ‘sit.’ When trained correctly, dogs are capable of some remarkable things like supporting the blind or sniffing out drugs.

However, one downside of dogs is that they take a considerably longer time than cats to be housetrained. Housebreaking a pup is usually a very hands-on, time intensive project.

Cats
Compared to dogs, most cats are difficult if not impossible to train to respond to directives. So while your cat most likely won’t ‘come’ or ‘sit’ when beckoned, he or she can be housetrained in an instant as long as there is litter box access.

One of the greatest abilities of cats is their ability to hunt. Cats are miniature versions of wild lions, tigers, cheetahs and jaguars. One way cats show affection is by catching small prey such as mice and bringing this to show you. While this is a sweet gesture, nobody wants a dead or alive mouse in their home.

But which pet is better?

After some tough analysis about which pet is better, the winner goes to our loveable canine friends. In this decision, cats put up a good fight but they just can’t compare to man’s best friend. You can train dogs to do cool tricks, they can help you stay fit and active, are extremely loyal, adorable and have such loving and friendly natures. Dogs really do make great pets!

No matter which pet you think is better, we know that you always just want the best for them. Keep an eye on your pet isn’t always easy when you’re away or at work but technology has made monitoring your pet easier than ever.

What do you think is the superior pet in regards to dogs vs cats? Or maybe you prefer neither…maybe there’s another pet you think is better? Goldfish, rabbits or maybe hamsters? Let me know in the comments below.